Box Score

Bolivar, Mo. - The SBU Bearcats football team moved to 3-1 on the season this afternoon with a 21-19 victory over St. Joseph's. The Bearcats lead the entire contest, and finished up the road trip going 2-0. The Bearcat offense was in sync once again, as they piled up 289 offensive yards in the first half.

The Bearcats were able to quickly get on the scoreboard first when Tiras Harris punched in a two yard run for a touchdown, giving the Bearcats a 7-0 lead with 3:11 left in the first quarter. St. Joseph's responded early in the second quarter with a touchdown of their own, but missed the extra point giving the Bearcats the 7-6 edge.  SBU responded only two minutes later when Dan Connors found Thad Everson with a 36 yard touchdown reception to put SBU up 14-6 going into the half.

SBU would be the first to strike again in the third quarter on Tiras Harris' second rushing touchdown of the game, this one from four yards out. St. Joseph's would add two more touchdowns in the remainder of the game, but SBU ultimately came away with the 21-19 victory.

Dan Connors was the leading passer for the Bearcats with 228 yards on 15 of 24 passing with one touchdown. The Bearcats once again rushed for over 100 yards as a team, and were lead in rushing by Tiras Harris would had 36 yards rushing with two touchdowns. The Bearcats were lead in receiving yards by Marcus Sullivan with 44.

On the defense side of the ball, the Bearcats were lead in tackles by Zach Moore who had a season high 13 tackles. Casey Smith and DeShawn Ross lead the defense with 2.0 sacks a piece, included a huge drive stopping sack by Smith late in the fourth quarter. As a team, the Bearcats had one interception, one fumble recovery, and two blocked kicks.

"Whenever you can get a win on the road, its a great win," head coach Keith Allen stated after the game. "Offensively we started strong, however, we need to improve our consistency and eliminate the errors and mistakes that stall drives. Defensively we made stops when necessary but need to continue to stop the run and force opponents to punt."

The Bearcats will return home to face Ottawa on October 1st with kickoff scheduled for 1:30 p.m.